Chapter 52

Kelly “Alright boys, last stop.” I said as I climbed into the plane, careful not to spill my coffee.

“Thank goddess it’s only a seven-hour flight.” Jonas chuckled behind me.

Although that sounded daunting, it was the shortest flight duration yet. I was excited about getting to our last stop, the Epping Forest in England. There we were after the Lunaris Herbs, which only bloomed under a full moon, which was a week from now. That would give us some time to explore England, maybe even Longdon, before we start our search for the herbs. The Epping forest was said to be haunted. How true that was, I don’t know. What I do know is that quite a few murders happen in the forest according to humans. I didn’t expect this part of the mission to be any easier than the other two stops. My great-something-grandfather said it wasn’t for the faint of heart, and my father agreed. But I have come this far, nothing is going to stop me now.

“We will have three days to explore the area before we should head into the forest in search of the Lunaris Herbs. We can set up camp once we find them and wait for them to bloom, but we can’t miss our opportunity. According to my research, the herbs will only stay in bloom for several hours. If we miss our chance, we will have to wait until the next full moon,” Emmett said.

“Everyone buckled in?” Thorin asked as he flipped a bunch of switches, getting the plane ready for takeoff.

“Lets go!” I smiled – – – – – – – –

A seven hour flight and first night’s stay at the hotel later….

– – – – – – – –

Jonas “Good morning Kelly.” I yelled, knocking at her door.

We had all decided to get separate rooms again, finding that we guys tolerated each other longer when we had some time apart. Of course, none of us would mind Kelly staying with us, but if she did, it could and probably would cause animosity amongst us. So there I was, at her door, hoping she would humor me today.

“Hey, come in.” She said, running a brush through her wet hair.

“Thanks.” I smiled, stepping inside. “I actually came here to ask you something.”

“Okay, shoot.” She yelled from the bathroom.

“I wanted to know if you wanted to get lost in England with me today. Just me and you.”

“Oh!” She said, sticking her head out of the bathroom. “Like a date?”

“Exactly like a date.”

“Do the other guys know you planned on asking me out?” She half laughed. “I would hate to have any…misunderstandings and jeopardize our mission.”

“Yeah, we spoke about it actually. We each want a day with you, if you’ll have us.”

“Oh…well that’s interesting.” She smirked. “Am I on a reality TV show now?”

“No no,” I laughed awkwardly. “It was just something we all thought might be nice.”

“Okay.” She smiled. “So what are we doing today?”

“It’s a surprise, just wear comfortable clothes.”

“Alright, I’ll be ready in less than ten minutes.”

Twenty minutes later, Kelly was ready and we were heading out the door. I had made plans for us to grab brunch first and then we were off to my next surprise, followed by another surprise, and then dinner. Kelly enjoyed brunch. Which was good because we ordered almost half the menu. I loved that she wasn’t afraid to eat in front of me like some girls sometimes are.

Kelly.

“Lets go!” I smiled – – – – – – – –

“So, Jonas, let’s talk.” Kelly said seriously as she pushed her food around her plate.

“About?”

“Us.” She shrugged. “We have been friends for as long as I can remember, yet I feel like I’m unsure of what you want out of life.”

“I want you, I know that much.” I laughed.

“But what else? When we arrive back home, my life is either going to get significantly better, or significantly worse. And that is my burden to bear. But what about you? What do you want your future to look like? Pretend I never existed. What is your perfect mate like? Do you have a dozen pups? What is your ideal lifestyle? I want to know everything.”

I shouldn’t have been surprised that this question was coming up, Kelly had three suitors to choose from. And since Kelly is so amazing, I’m sure she wants to know if our end goals were aligned with each other.

“Honestly Kelly, my whole life has been revolving around you. I didn’t care about meeting my mate because I had already found someone better. I chose to be a diplomat mostly for myself, but partially because I thought it would be helpful to you too. It doesn’t matter to me what we do or where we live. I just want to enjoy all the good that life has to offer with the perfect woman by my side. And if we had half a dozen pups along the way, that would be amazing too.”

“I see.” She nodded slowly, mulling over my words. “It might still be a long shot, but what if I become queen? Would you be happy being King? Are you prepared for the seriousness and responsibility that comes with ruling?”

“It wouldn’t be my first career choice, but I would gladly face it head on if it meant getting to keep you.” I said, flipping my fork back and forth.

“And if I don’t become queen? If I am exiled or arrested or something worse?”

“Then we face it together.” I said, meeting her eyes. “We make the best of whatever situation we encounter.”

She nodded, still remaining quiet for a moment longer. “Thank you for being honest with me.”

“Of course,” I said, grabbing her hand and giving it a quick peck. “Now, why don’t we finish up here and go to our next destination,” I said, wiggling my eyebrows.

We took a nice long walk, checking out a few small shops on the way where I bought a few souvenirs for Kelly to remember this whole experience by. After half an hour, my surprise finally came into view.

“A castle?” Kelly smiled.

“I was able to get a private tour booked, and I hear there are a few hidden passageways throughout the castle. I thought it would be interesting.” I shrugged bashfully.

“That is so cool! I can’t want to see it!” Kelly said, grabbing my hand and running us the rest of the way.

“Maybe you’ll see something you’d like to do for the palace back home.” I laughed.

We stepped inside and were taken away by the beauty before us. The ceilings were all hand panted with carvings going down all the walls. We found our special tour guide who showed us through the entire castle, room by room, and even through the secret passages. He had a plethora of information which Kelly couldn’t seem to get enough of. I think the guide was very impressed with all of her questions, if only he knew she basically lived in a castle herself.

I loved watching Kelly take so much interest in something like this. She was so captivated by it all, I could care less about what was going on, just enjoying watching her light up. This was it, this was what I was talking about, enjoying life.

“Well, that is the end of our tour-” the guide began.

“Shoot! I left my sunglasses in one of the rooms. Do you mind if we go grab them?” Kelly asked.

“Not at all. There isn’t another tour for half an hour, so feel free to revisit any room you wish to see again.” The guide nodded.

“We will, thanks!” Kelly said, pulling me along.

“You didn’t bring sunglasses…?” I whispered to Kelly as she dragged us through the castle and into a room.

“I know, I just wanted to have some fun.” Kelly smirked, pulling me in for a k**s. Only then did I notice we were back in what was the queen’s suite at one point. It had the largest bed in the entire castle.

“Oh.” I smirked, letting her push me over to the bed. She climbed on top of me, straddling my h**s, while her hands slipped under my shirt, feeling up and down my chest. “I should tell you now, we have a cease-fire agreement.”

“What?” Kelly half laughed, a confused expression crossing her face as she pulled back.

“A cease fire…we agreed that we could each take you out on a date, as long as there was no…you know…”

“Oh.” Kelly sighed, a bit disappointed.

“But there was much left open for interpretation, and I have never had a problem breaking a rule or two.” I added, flipping us over so Kelly was beneath me now.

She squealed and laughed, pulling me back for a k**s while my fingers worked on unbuttoning her pants. I had them off in record time, parting her legs and settling my face between them. Kelly gripped the sheets as I went to town on her, her m***s muffled by the pillow on the bed. She convulsed around me and I lapped up everything she had to give.

“Goddess…that was…so great.” Kelly panted.

“I aim to please.” I winked.

“And down the hall we have the queens’ suite-” We heard the next tour guide’s voice echoing through the halls.

“s**t!” Kelly laughed, sitting up quickly and adjusting her disheaved shirt.

I guess more time had passed than we thought. I helped her find her discarded clothes and wiped the shine of her sweet nectar off my face while she dressed. We looked like we had been up to no good, but we were decent just in time for the group of older folks to come barging in.

“Excuse us.” I said, pulling a flaming red Kelly past the group. We ran out of there trying to contain our laughter and failing miserably.

“That was a bit too close for comfort,” Kelly laughed.

“Totally worth it.” I smirked, earning a nudge from Kelly.

We headed to the zoo next, followed by dinner. We had the perfect day if you asked me. I don’t know if Kelly would ever pursue me like I hoped she would, but I prayed that she would. At the end of the day, her happiness was all that mattered. And today, I fulfilled my duty of making her happy.